Steak making process



Dec. 15, 1959 w, R, SULLWAN ETAL 2,917,388

STEAK MAKING PROCESS Filed April 21, 1958 kvk hmmm STEAK MAKING PROCESS William R. Sullivan, Chicigo, Patrick J.:Cleary, Bradley,

and Delbert B. Love, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Armour and Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application April Z1 1958, Serial No. 729,571

5 Claims. (Cl. 99-107) This invention relates to a steak makingv process. More particularly thisy intention relates to a method of manufacturing a novel stak-like product, which, though formed from small partichs or granules of meat has the f taste, texture and appearance of cube steak prepared from a unitary slice of bef.

So-called cube steaks"have beenprepared and sold for a number of years. Vhen cube steaks are prepared from a unitary slice of leef, as is usuallythe case, it has been found necessari to employ a relatively high grade of beef to product a satisfactory product. A1- though the cubing operatitn has considerable tenderizing effect on the meat, it is lot sufficient to permit tender cube steaks to be produ-ce1 from a unitary slice of beef of the type from which hamburger is usually made. Attemptshave also been made to make satisfactory cube steaks from a plurality cf thin'slices of beef and also from beef flakes or wafen so as to permit tender cube steaks to be made from poor grades of beef. However, cube steaks formed from slices. and flakes of beefhave not had as satisfactory a txture as cube steaks produced by theV method of this invantion. Aparticular. objection is that cube steaks made from slices and akes. tendto comeI apart in cooking. h other words, it has not heretofore beenpossible to nake cube steaksv from subdivided beef which had a sinilar texture, tasteand appearance toy cube steaks formed from single. pieces of beef.

It is therefore a principal object ofthis invention to provide a method of przparing cube steaks from beef cuts, scraps, trimmings, etc. which would not. otherwiseA be suitable for a steak-typ: productby providingia means for forming cube steaks trom` subdivided pieces ofbeef, which cube steaks are ccmparable in taste, texture'and appearance to cube steaks produced from unitary slices of beef. Further object; 'and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

A diagrammatic flow slieetillustratingan embodiment of the method of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing.

In one of its aspects, tiis invention is concerned vwith aV steak-making process characterized byy the stcpoflimpressing a reticulated pattern on a semi-frozenjmeat slice composed of a mixture of ground beef and ground beef fats-ln somewhat greater detail, this inventionjris concerned with a method of preparing a steak-like product characterized by the steps of grinding pieces of relatively lean beef and beef fat or relatively fat beef into small granules, thoroughly intermixing the lean beef granules with the beef fat granules, extruding the mixture thus obtained into elongated meat bodies, freezing the meat bodies, tempering the frozen meat bodies to a semifrozen condition, slicing the tempered meat bodies crosswise or transversely to obtain a plurality of semi-frozen slices, and then subjecting the semi-frozen slices to a cubing operation by passing them either one at a time or in stacks of two or more through a steak cubing machine to modify the texture and appearance of the slices and thereby produce a steak-like product. The fat granules may be obtained by grinding either beef fat or relatively fat beef since either source after grinding will pro-` duce the fat granules which aid in producing a cohesive.

meat body.

In practicing the method just described it had been` found that the lean beef and beef fat granules should` be of an approximately uniform particle size within the range from about 1/16 to eL/16 inch in diameter. The mixing f together of such granules disperses the fat granules substantially uniformly throughout the lean ybeef granules. This is important because in the rial cubing operation the fat granules act as a binder to produce a cohesive` meat body from one having a granular texture. How.-` ever, it is desired to preserve the granular texture until the cubing operation, that is, the pressure applied to the meat mixture in the extruding s tep should'be kept low enough so that the extruded meat body preserves aV deti-v nite granular texture and without the fat therein being, emulsied to the point where the extruded meat body has The extruded meat body should be:

frozen rapidly, preferably at a temperature not over 10 F., and then tempered at a temperature' of from` 26 to 30 F. to a semi-frozen condition. lt has also been found desirable to introduce an initial tempering stepy before the freezing step, wherein the extruded meat bodies are held at a temperature of about to 45 F. .for several hours.

After the nal tempering step in which the meat body is brought to a semi-frozen condition, it is preferredto slice the meat body transversely into slices having a` thickness of about 3/6 to Ss inch. These slices are preferably one at a time while still in a semi-frozen condition: knitted together by impressing a reticulated pattern on` both sidesVv thereof. As indicated, this can readily be accomplished by cubing the slices inany of the standard steak cubing machines such as a Leland cube steak machine. This vstep has. been found to have the surprising result of knittingthe granules in the slices togetherfso as toproduce as steak-like product whichfhas the taste, texture and appearance of cube steak formed from-a unitary slice of;`

method of this invention.

amixer il. Beef fat or relatively fat beef is also passed through grinder lil and discharged in the mixer- 11. f The.

preliminaryor coarse grinding at this point preferably produces granules of from to 1,1/2 in diameter.l This lcan readily be accomplished byproviding plate 12 witl1 grinding aperturesofthe desired size. The coarse gran-' ules of leanbeef and beef fat are thoroughly mixed in.vv

mixer 11, and the mixture is then passed to ney grinder 13, wherein it is further mixed and ground to a smaller Ysize by plate i4. At this point the particle size prefer-'- ably averages about 1/16 to ilG indiameter.' After issuing from plate 142- the mixture is forced into" and, through a roll-forming horn l5. The extruded-meatroll-4 The tempered rolls are then sliced at 19' into slices of These slices are then approximately 1/2 in thickness. passed one at a time through cube steak machine 20 which is equipped with a plurality of interleaving cubing disks 21 and 22. In the cubing operation the semi-frozen slices have a lreticulated pattern impressed on both sides Patented Dec. 1,5, 1959 Reference is made to the accompanying flow sheet by way of an example` of a specific embodiment of the f Relatively lean beef is fed-` into a, coarse grinder 1t? from which it is deposited intoV thereof, which knits together the granules of beef fat and lean beef to produce a texture approaching that of cube steak produced from a unitary slice of beef, while at the same time making the tenderness of the cube steak product much'more independent than'heretofore of the type and grade of meat employed. The cube steak product is then packaged at 23.

4 This application is a continuation-in-part of patent application Serial No. 361,694, led June 15, 1953, by the lsame co-inventors, and now abandoned.

While in the foregoing specilication this invention has been described in relation to a preferred embodiment thereof and specific details have been set forth for purpose of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the method of this invention is susceptible to other embodiments and that many of the details set frthrcan be varied widely without departing from the basic concepts underlying the invention.

We claim:

'1. The method of preparing a steak product characterized by the steps of grinding relatively lean beef and relatively fat beef into relatively uniform granules ranging in diameter from about 1/16 to 3716", thoroughly intermixing the lean beef granules with the beeffat gran# ules to disperse the fat granules throughout the lean beef granules and provide a binder therefor, extruding the mixture thus obtained into elongated meat bodies while preserving the granular texture of the meat bodies and without appreciably emulsifying the fat therein, rapidly freezing the meat bodies, tempering the frozen meat bodies at a temperature of about 26 to 30 F. to a semifrozen condition, slicing the tempered meat bodies crossw'ise to obtain a plurality of semi-frozen slices ranging in thickness from about to 5A", and then impressing areticulated pattern on both sides of each slice, said slices being impressed individually and in a non-stacked relationship.

2. The method of preparing a Isteak product characterized by the steps of grinding pieces of relatively lean beef and relatively fat beef into granules ranging in diameter from about to 11/2?, thoroughly intermixing the lean beef granules with the beef fat granules, regrinding the mixture to produce a granule diameter in the mixture from about 1/16 to 3/6, extruding the mixture thus obtained into cylindrical bodies, temperingthe cylindrical meat bodies at a temperature of from 40 t0 45 F. for several hours, rapidly freezing the tempered meat bodies at a temperature below 10 F., tempering the frozen meat bodies at a temperature of from 26 to 30 F. to a semi-frozen condition, slicing the semi-frozen meat bodies crosswiseto obtain a plurality of semi-frozen slices ranging in thickness from about 3A; to and then impressing a reticulated pattern on both sides of saidslices to knit together the lean beef and fat granules within the body of the slice, said slices being thereby modifying the texture and appearance ofthe slices and producing a steak product comparable in texture andl appearance to cube steaks of beef.

3. A method of preparing a steak product characterized by the steps of preparing a mixture of lean beef granules and beef fat granules, said granules ranging in produced from unitary 'slices diameter from about M6 to 1%, forming the mixture thus obtained into elongated neat bodies, freezing the meat bodies, tempering the frozn meat bodies at a temperature of from 26 to 30 F. to semi-frozen condition, slicing the tempered meat lodies crosswise to obtain a plurality of semi-frozen slices ranging in thickness from about S; to f/zr", and then impessing a reticulated pattern on the semi-frozen slices D modify the texture and appearance of the slices and thereby produce a steak product comparable in texture and appearance to cube steaks produced from unitary :lices of beef, said slices being impressed individually ald in a non-stacked rela- Y tionship.

4. The method of preparing z steak product characterized by the steps of grinding relatively lean beef and beef fat into relatively uniform granules ranging in diameter from about 1/16 to /16 tloroughly intermixing the lean beef granules with the beef fat granules to disperse the fat granules throughout tle lean beef granules and provide a binder therefor, extruiing' the mixture thus obtained into elongated meat bolies while preserving the granular texture of the meat hJdies and without appreciably emulsifying the fat theein, rapidly freezing the meat bodies, tempering they frozn meat bodies at a temperature of about 26 to 30 E to a semi-frozen condi` tion, slicing the tempered mea bodies crosswise to obtain a plurality of semi-frozen slices ranging in thickness from about :As to and then impressing a reticulated pattern on both sides of eich slice, said slices being impressed individually and in z non-stacked relationship.

5. The method of preparing a steak product characterized by `the lsteps of griniing pieces of relatively lean beef and beef fat into gralules ranging in diameter from about :A: to 11/2", thoroughly intermixing the lean beef granules with the beef fai granules, rcgrinding the mixture to produce a granule diameter in the mixture from about 1A@ to extruling the mixture thus Obtained into cylindrical bodies, tempering the cylindrical meat bodies at a temperature of from 40 to 45 F. for several hours, rapidly freezing the tempered meat bodies at a temperature below 10 li., tempering the frozen meat bodies at a temperature o? from 26 to 30 F. to a semi-frozen condition, slicing the semi-frozen meat bodies crosswise to obtain a plurality o semi-frozen slices ranging in thickness from about t) 5/8", and then impressing a reticulated pattern on bozh sides of said slices to knit together the lean beef and fat granules within the body of the slice, said slices being impressed individually and. in a non-stacked relationshrip, thereby modifying the texture and appearance of theslices and producing a steak product, comparable in texture and appearance to cube steaks produced from unitary slices of beef.

i References Citedin the Elle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,020,843 Lohner Nov. 12, 1935 L 2,251,801` Plitt et al. Aug. 5, 1941 2,398,636 j Henney et al. Apr. 16, 1946 2,440,168 Cross Apr. 20, 1948 2,673,156 Minder Mar. 23, 1954 

1. THE METHOD OF PREPARING A STEAK PRODUCT CHARACTERIZED BY THE STEPS OF GRINDING RELATIVELY LEAN BEEF AND RELATIVELY FAT BEEF INTO RELATIVELY UNIFORM GRANULES RANGING IN DIAMETER FROM ABOUT 1/16 TO 3/16", THOROUGHLY INTERMIXING THE LEAN BEEF GRNULES WITH THE BEEF FAT GRANULES TO DISPERSE THE FAT GRANULES THROUGHOUT THE LEAN BEEF GRANULES AND PROVIDE A BINDER THEREFOR, EXTRUDING THE MIXTURE THUS OBTANIED INTO ELONGATED MEAT BODIES WHILE PRESERVING TEH GRANULAR TEXTURE OF THE MEAT BODIES AND WITHOUT APPRECIABLY EMULSIFYING THE FAT THEREIN, RAPIDLY FREEZING THE MEAT BODIES, TEMPERING THE FROZEN MEAT BODIES AT A TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT 26 TO 30*F. TO A SEMIFROZEN CONDITION, SLICING THE TEMPERED MEAT BODIES CROSSWISE TO OBTAIN A PLURALITY OF SEMI-FROZEN SLICES RANGING IN THICKNESS FROM ABOUT 3/8 TO 5/8", AND THEN IMPRESSING A RETICULATED PATTERN ON BOTH SIDES OF EACH SLICE, SAID SLICES BEING IMPRESSED INDIVIDUALLY AND IN A NON-STACKED RELATIONSHIP. 